The Washington critic., 1887-06-17
WASHINGTONS CLOSEST CALL.

when n Confederate Army Was In
Gunshot Distance of tho Capitol.
For THE WARRINGTON CRirIo.
As thoroughly scared as were the
people Of Washington on the day after
the first battle of Bull Run, they ex.
perienced a still greater fright In the
same month of July three years later,
when the Confederate forces ap.
preached so near the city limits that the
glitter of their bayonets could be seen,
and for the first time In the history of
the country blood was shed In actual
warfare within the confines of the Dis.
trict of Columbia.
For twenty four hours, at least, 1t
seemed that the National Capitol was
doomed, to dead certainty, and even
later on great apprehenslons existed as
to the result of the meeting between the
Union reinfoIcements and the Confed.
crates. The rattle of muskelry and the
roar Of artillery swept down the Seventh
and Fourteenth street roads, and
though, after all, 1t was, as compared
with what are designated battles,
merely an engagement" 1t seemed
like q stupendous conflict to those here
In the rear In Washington and George.
town, who could hear but not see.
1t was the narrowest escape the city
had from capture during the war, and
the wonder Is that 1t was not invested
by the Confederates before help came
from down the Potomac.
General Early left Frederick on the
morning of the 10th of July. 1864,
after taking q rest, recuperating as far
as possible the condition of his army
and levying toll of $200,O0 In cash
upon the citizens Of that town. He
marched upon Washington by route of
the Georgetown pike and camped over
night within few miles of Rockville
His advance guard, under General Nc.
Causland, was met by body of Union
cavalry in the latter village and spir-
tied little encounter occurred, In which
the Federals were routed.
BY daylight the next morning, I'm.
boden's cavalry, commanded by Colo.
mel Smith, McCausland and Jackson's
cavalry preceded the infantry on their
march along the pike, turning to the
left to reach the Seventh. street road at
Silver Springs. The weather was fear.
fully hot, the earth mingled with the
atmosphere In the form Of Montgomery
County dust, than which there Is none
more intense In its effects on this ter.
rene sphere, and many Of the men fell
from exhaustion or sun. strokes.
AS Smiths Cavalry neared Silver
Springs they had brush with scout.
ing party Of the Union forces, who re.
tired. Early's aim was to push forward
and attack the Notifications aboutWash-
ington, with Fort Stevens as his prin.
cipal objective point, as quickly as pos.
sible, and capture them before they
could be manned or reinforced to de.
gree Of strength sufficient to repel
him.
After passing Silver Springs informa
tion was brought him that Fort Stevens
was In very feeble condition as to a
garrison, and he Immediately ordered
General Rodes to bring his division
into line, throw out skirmishers and
move without delay upon the works
Early's whole column was approaching
the devoted Fort Stevens by Hank and
the National Capital seemed at his
mercy.
Suddenly clouds OF dust arose back
of the fort, between BriGhtwood and
Washington, and from out those clouds
column of the veterans of the Army
of the Potomac filed ready for action
on the left and right, with skirmishers
in front, and the batteries from the fort
opened fire.
This killed all hope and anticlpa.
tion that the Confederate commander
had Of taking the fort by surprise and
led him to serious realization of the
weakness of his forces. His losses at
Harper's Ferry, Maryland Heights and
Monocacy had reduced his Infantry to
nbout 5000 men, and they were not in
the best of condition. He had forty
pieces of artillery, the largest of which
were but twelve-pound Napoleons.
Rock Creek was almost impossible near
the fort, both from nature and abattis
formed by the Telling of trees, the
country had been cleared for large
space about and could be raked by
artillery; McCausland reported the
Georgetown pike as impregnablc, and,
10 settle matters, any strategic maneu-
vers were impossible, as the signal sta
tion, located at the highest point In
Old Soldiers Home, commanded the
country for miles around, and from II
every movement could be Immediately
discovered.
General Early says, speaking of the
gloomy condition of affairs at that
point, when he felt assured that his
plan for the city's capture was failure,
and 1t was growing high time for him
TO avoid capture or destruction him
self: "lf we had any friends in Wash
ington they didn't report to us, and
that decided me in my mind that rein.
forcements had arrived from Grant.
had sent message to Mosby by ont
of his men TO cross the Potomac below
Harper's Ferry, cut the wires, destroy
the railroad and endeavor to learn the
condition of affairs in Washington, buI
never heard from him.
On the night of the 11th Early and
his associates, Generals Breckenridge
Rodes, Gordon and Ramseur, held Il
council of war, and In view of the
danger of having the passes of South
Mountain and the fords of the Upper
Potomac closed against them If they
delayed and We're compelled to retreat
settled that they would make one de
cisive effort early the next morning by
assaulting Fort Stevens en- masse,
Before daylight, however, dispatch
was received from Bradley Johnson
who was near Baltimore with the In
formation that two corps from Grant
army had certainly arrived In Wash
ingtOn, This caused delay of the
attack until the works could be again
examined The result of that examiua.
tion was the disheartening discovery
that the fort and its neighborhood
teemed with Union soldiers, $50,
regretfully explains General Early,
81 had therefore to give up all hopes
of capturing Washington after had
arrived in sight of the dome of the
Capitol and given the Federal authori-
tipa n torribln frj1ht -